Sets of building blocks, and in particular sets of building blocks with coupling portions, are well known and widely popular among children. Some conventional sets of building blocks include blocks that have a body that includes an upper portion and several side walls that extend downwardly from the upper portion. The downwardly extending walls define a cavity or aperture therebetween. Typically, one or more studs or posts extend from the upper surface of the block. The cavity or aperture defined by these walls is sized to receive the studs of another block so that a user may stack or build multiple blocks on top of each other. Generally, the studs of a first block are inserted into an aperture or cavity of a second block in order to stack, build or otherwise couple the first and second blocks together.
Conventional blocks that are coupled to each other are retained in a coupled arrangement by the friction between the outer surfaces of the stud or studs of one block and the walls and other surfaces of another block with which the studs are in contact. The outer side surface or surfaces of a stud are perpendicular to the upper portion of the block from which they extend. Similarly, the walls or surfaces of a block that are engaged by a stud are perpendicular to the upper portion of that block. Thus, when blocks are coupled together, the blocks must be at least partially vertically aligned or overlapped. Due to this, a set of conventional blocks intended to provide an assembly with a large footprint must include an extremely large number of conventional blocks which, in turn, renders large assemblies expensive and time-consuming to create.
In contrast with conventional building blocks, some conventional building sets have been introduced which include connectors and rods. While these sets may allow for large creations to be made relatively quickly, it is sometimes difficult to include the same amount of detail or decoration with these conventional building sets, particularly in comparison to traditional building blocks. Additionally, these sets are typically not combinable or usable with conventional building blocks that include studs and cavities, as described above. Thus, there is a need for a new design for a set of building components that can reduce the amount of building components required to build a large structure or creation and can be used in connection with conventional building blocks.